grinding aluminium

Post by **picky** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:42 pm

Im doing some porting on an aluminium head, well im trying to but the diamond coated bits I am using quickly stop working as they seem to get clogged up with bits of aluminium.

any ideas?

Picky

Post by **Orkney** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:04 pm

Is it tungsten that works on ally? know you can get blades to fit circular saws for cutting ally angle and profile etc - surprisingly big flat teeth not at all fine like you might expect. Guess they rely on speed to work efficiently?

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:05 pm

try adjusting the speed of the drill picky, it might need a slower speed than steel, being softer?

also, what lubricant are you using?

Post by **bmcecosse** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:38 pm

Easy to go straight through Ally - be very careful - what's the head for ?

Post by **IslipMinor** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:22 pm

Use some paraffin as a lubricant - stops the aluminium sticking. Don't know anything else that will as well.

Post by **Alec** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:45 pm

Hello Picky,
an electric drill is far too slow. Look at what speed die grinders run at, something like 20,000 rpm no load (which is what these burrs and stones are designed for).
What you can do to help the situation is to lubricate the cutter, something like WD40 to slow down the clogging. Aluminium, although soft is horrible to machine\grind without the right equipment.
From memory, (my apprenticeship was a long time ago) cutting speed for aluminium is about 1,000 ft per min and mild steel 80ft per minute.

Alec

Post by **Alec** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:47 pm

Hello Richard,

sorry, missed your post. Yes paraffin is a common lubricant but WD40 does work quite well and is in most practical peoples toolbox.

Alec

Post by **Packedup** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:02 pm

Not mine!

Got two flavours of Plusgas instead - The pourable and the spray (though I can never find the nozzle for the pourable), covers everything I've needed so far

Post by **Alec** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:13 pm

Hello Packedup,

Plus Gas is excellent for freeing rusted components but not much good for damp electrics?

Alec

Post by **Packedup** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:25 pm

The trick is to not get damp electrics in the first place - For which I use a can of spray ignition sealer

Never really had a problem on anything other than Minis, and after discovering the sealer I could even take those through any amount of rain or standing water without missing a beat!